Rihanna Confirms 'R9' Is Coming As She Makes A "Start" On Next Album

11 June 2024, 16:54

Fans of Rihanna have been early anticipating her next album for almost a decade now, but did Rihanna just confirm ‘R9’ is coming at a recent Fenty event?

Rihanna has spent over eight years teasing her fans about her next album, ever since 'Anti' was released in January 2016.

Whilst that album melted brains with its power, featuring tracks like ‘Work’ with Drake, ‘Needed Me’, ‘Kiss It Better’ and ‘Love On The Brain,’ she seems to be holding onto her next album like there’s no tomorrow.

The cheeky musician was even seen out and about in June 2024 wearing a t-shirt that read 'I'm retired', which sent fans spiralling.

In all fairness to Rihanna, she has been kind of busy, you know, becoming a literal billionaire with her Fenty Beauty company which has now branched out to Fenty Skin and Fenty Hair, as well as her lingerie line Savage x Fenty.

• Read more: Every Time Rihanna Has Stolen The Show At The Met Gala Over The Years
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Oh, and she’s also performed at the Superbowl and somehow miraculously had two children in that time too, so she can be forgiven for the delay. But it seems like Rihanna has recently hinted that 'R9' might be closer than we think.

Is Rihanna releasing a new album?

Yep! At her Fenty Hair launch party, Rihanna was filmed joking about 'R9', saying “This is probably the longest I’ve ever taken to create something… No, I lied, that’s R9.”

Then, Entertainment Tonight released a clip of Rihanna at the same event confirming that she has been in the studio creating 'R9' but she's essentially scrapped everything she's made so far and is starting over... we're panicking too - 'R9' will be ours, but goodness knows when!

She said: "Music for me is a new discovery, I'm rediscovering things. I have been working on the album for so long that I just kind of put all that stuff aside.

"And now, I'm prepared to go back in the studio. Now I'm prepared, so I'm gonna start," she said looking down the barrel and placing an emphasis on 'start'.

Some of the songs she has prepped for her ninth album she has said she doesn't want to abandon, so she'll be revisiting them with "new ears" and a "new perspective".

In 2018, she revealed that she planned to make 'R9' a reggae album and in 2019 she opened up about why it’s taking her so long to come out with the music in an interview with Sarah Paulson.

“[I] used to be in the studio, only the studio, for three months straight,” Rihanna admitted to the actress, revealing that her life now is “fashion one day, lingerie the next, beauty the next, then music the next.”

She went on to say, “It really does suck that it can’t just come out, because I’m working on a really fun one right now. I’m really happy with a lot of the material we have so far, but I am not going to put it out until it’s complete.”

“It makes no sense to rush it, but I want it out. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m like, ‘Even if I don’t have the time to shoot videos, I’m going to put an album out.’”

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